I’ve just returned from New York City, where I enjoyed a wonderful 4-hour lunch at Eleven Madison Park. As a rule, I don’t do restaurant reviews on my site. And what could I possibly say about EMP, except that it lived up to – and exceeded – my very high expectations? The food was creative, […]

In the opening chapter of her first book, Red, White and Drunk All Over, wine writer Natalie MacLean visits the famous Burgundy wine estate of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Her latest book, Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines, is predicated on the idea that the wine world is much broader than […]

When I decided to make lamb shank confit, the first question that occurred to me was, “What makes confit different from any other braise?” Once upon a time, I probably would have answered that it was the cooking medium, a confit being cooking in fat rather than a water-based liquid such as wine or stock. […]

Earlier this week, I found myself with some extra lamb shanks, some rendered lamb fat, and some leftover curing mix from a recent batch of duck confit. There was only one thing to do: I coated the shanks with the salt mix, refrigerated them overnight, and rinsed them off and patted them dry. Then I […]

With the return of warmer weather, I took some time last weekend to roast another batch of coffee with my heat gun. I do all my roasting outside so I don’t have to worry about containing the chaff, but that does kind of limit my options in the winter, even a mild winter like we […]

Everyone knows you can make a foam out of egg whites; that’s what meringue is. But did you know that egg yolks can foam too? It’s a little trickier, though. Yolks won’t foam without a little help in the form of some added water. And unlike egg white proteins, which can be destabilized by mechanical […]

One of the challenges I always face when coming up with a menu for dinner parties like the one I had recently is avoiding too much repetition. This is especially true because I’m working with other people’s recipes, and I try to adhere to them as closely as I can, substituting ingredients only when I […]